Tong actuator



Nov. 15, 1949 J. H. EDWARDS TONG ACTUATOR 42 Sheets-Shet 1 Filed March 9, 1945 FIGQ INVENTOR 4 f aw/we.

FIG. 1

Nov. 15, 1949 J. H. EDWARDS 2,488,080

TONG ACTUATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 9, 1945 lNVENTOR Patented Nov. 15, 1949 "UNITED STATES i ATENT OFFICE.

TONG ACTUATOR James H. Edwards, Bay City, Tex. Application March 9, 1945, Serial No. 581,925

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a tong actuator.

The apparatus is particularly designed for use in connection with a drilling rig for actuating the tong by means of which the well pipe, or well casing, is made up in lowering the same into the well.

In well drilling the string of easing, or pipe, is suspended in the well from a rotary drilling machine and, as it is made up and lowered, additional sections of the casing, or pipe, are screwed onto the upper end of the string. A tong is used for this purpose. It is actuated, in one direction, by means of a cable which operates over the cathead of the drawworks and is operated, at the present time, in the other direction by means of a pull spring connected. at one end, to the tong handle by a cable and connected, at its other end, to a stationary anchor by a cable, but this spring is exposed and should it break, as often happens, it may swing around the derrick floor and injure the workmen. It is a prime object of the present invention to provide a housing wherein the spring and adjacent end of the cable are housed so that in case of breakage of the spring the cable will be held, or retained, so that it will not be liable to cause injury, or should the cable become detached from the spring itsv range of movement about the derrick will be greatly restricted so as to reduce the liability of injury.

With the above and other objects in view the invention has particular relation to certain novel features of construction, arrangement of parts and use, an example of which is given in this specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 shows a side view, partly in section, of the housing.

Figure 2 shows a fragmentary, perspective view.

Figure 3 shows a side view of the drawworks and rotary drilling machine showing the housing associated therewith; and

Figure 4 shows a plan view thereof.

In the drawings the numeral l designates the derrick floor as a whole whereon the drawwork 2 and the rotary drilling machine 3 are located. The drawwork has a cathead shaft 4 on which the conventional cathead 5 is fixed.

The rotary drilling machine includes a rotary table 6 which is driven from the drawworks by a suitable sprocket chain enclosed within the housing I in the usual manner.

The string of well pipe 8 is suspended in the well from the rotary table. As made up additional sections of the well pipe are screwed onto the upper end of the string by the tong 9. A cable I0 is attached, at one end, to the tong handle and its other end is wound around the cathead 5. When a workman pulls on the free end I I of the cable to tighten it around the cathead, and the cathead is rotated in a clockwise direction it will operate to exert a pull on the tong handle and this will rotate the section being screwed onto the upper end of the string. The free end I I of the cable is then released.

In order to actuate the tong in the other direction to take a new hold on the pipe section the attachment hereinafter described has been provided.

The numeral I2 designates a tubular housing whose lower end is supported on a base I3. This base has an integral upstanding stud It over which the lower end of the housing is fitted and a transverse bolt I5 is fitted through the housing and stud having a head on-one end and a nut I6 screwed onto the other end thereof.

The base I3 may be secured in positionadjacent the derrick floor in any preferred manner. If the derrick foundation is concrete the base I3 may be anchorod therein, or thereto, or if the derrick foundation is formed of timber the base I3 may be anchored thereto by lag screws and said housing I2 may be further braced in any desired manner so that it will be held securely in place.

Within the housing there is a strong coil spring I1 whose lower end is attached to cross bolt [8 which extends through the housing above the stud I4 and which has a head on one end and a nut l9 screwed onto the other endthereof.

There is a cable 2!] one end of which is connected to the tong handle and whose other end is connected to the upper end of the spring II. This cable 2E! works through a side opening ZI in the housing and between the upper and lower sheaves 22, 23 which are mounted in said opening. These are mounted to rotate on the upper and lower transverse bolts 24, 25 which have the heads 2E, 21 on one end and the nuts 28, 29 on their other ends.

There is an outwardly arched bracket 3i! secured at its respective ends to the housing I2 above and beneath the opening 2 I and this bracket has an opening 3|. The cable 20 passes through the openings 2| and 3! and between the sheaves 22, 23 and is attached to the upper end of the spring l1, as shown in Figure 1.

As the tong is actuated in the direction of the arrow in Figure 4 the spring I1 is placed under tension and when the end II of the cable is released, to release the coils from the cathead 5,

the spring l1 will operate to actuate the tong in the other direction so that the tong may take a new hold on the section being screwed onto the string. In case the spring I! should, at any time, break the end of the cable in the housing I2 will usually be retained therein between the sheaves 22, 23 but in case the cable 22 should, in case of breakage, be withdrawn from the housing the bracket 30 will reduce its range of movement about the derrick floor so that the workmen will not be so liable to be injured.

The sheaves 22 and 23 may be guarded, on each side, by the guard plates 32, 33 which are welded to the housing l2, as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

While a spring is shown in the housing I 2 for maintaining tension on the cable 20 any equivalent of said spring, such as a weight, may be enclosed within said housing for the same purpose.

What I claim is:

1. In apparatus for operating a pipe tong to screw together sections of a well pipe; an upstanding housing anchored adjacent a well rig and whose upper end is formed with a side opening, a pull spring in the housing whose lower end is anchored to the housing, a tong actuating cable working through said opening and connected, at one end, to the upper end of the spring, and whose other end is adapted to be connected to a tong handle, an antifriction roller mounted in and projecting through the housing opening and over which the cable works and side guards on the housing on opposite sides of the roller, a sheave mounted between the side guards and projecting through the opening and over which the cable works.

2. In apparatus for operating a pipe tong, an upstanding housing anchored in place and having a side opening, an outwardly arched bracket fixed to the housing and extended outwardly therefrom and having a guide opening aligned with the housing opening, a cable through said openings one end of which is adapted to be connected to the tong, means in. the housing connected to the other end of the cable to maintain the cable, when connected to the tong, under tension, and side guards on the housing on opposite sides of the opening, a sheave mounted between the side guards and projecting through the opening and over which the cable works.

3. In apparatus for operating a pipe tong, an upstanding housing anchored in place and having a side opening, an outwardly arched bracket fixed to the housing and extended outwardly therefrom and having a guide opening aligned with the housing opening, a cable through said openings one end of which is adapted to be connected to the tong, means in the housing connected to the other end of the cable to maintain the cable, when connected to the tong, under tension, sides of said opening, a sheave between, and mounted on said side guards within the bracket over which said cable works.

side guards on the housing on opposite 6 0 cable to maintain the cable, when connected to the tong, under tension and opposed sheaves on the housing within the brackets between which the cable works.

5. In apparatus for operating a pipe tong, an upstanding housing anchored in place and having a side opening, an outwardly arched bracket fixed to the housing above and beneath the opening and extended outwardly from the housing and having a guide opening aligned with the housing opening, a cable through said openings one end of which is adapted to be connected to the tong, a sheave mounted on the housing to project through said opening and over which the cable works; a spring in the housing one end of which is anchored and whose other end is connected to the other end of said cable.

6. In apparatus for operating a pipe tong, an upstanding housing anchored in place and having a side opening, an outwardly arched bracket fixed to the housing and extended outwardly therefrom in front of the opening and having a guide opening aligned with the housing opening, a cable through said openings one end of which is adapted to be connected to the tong, a sheave mounted on the housing to project through said opening and over which the cable works, means anchored in the housing and connected to the other end of the cable to maintain the cable, when connected to the tong, under tension and side guards on the housing on opposite sides of the side opening.

JAMES H. EDWARDS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 295,932 Moore et al. Apr. 1, 1884 1,435,154 Edwards Nov. 14, 1922 1,546,217 Elms July 14, 1925 1,702,822 Ferguson Feb. 19, 1929 2,168,209 Haupt Aug. 1, 1939 2,308,823 Phipps Jan. 19, 1943 2,364,901 Hicks Dec. 12, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 37,051 Denmark Jan. 24, 1927 176,788 Germany Oct. 25, 1906 

